to mill about
7
5.3
- phrasal verb
:
deambular
- Board members, museum patrons, and socialites mill about in dinner jackets and evening gowns, making small talk.
- people mill about
- students mill about
Still milling about, fucking about with a puff a little bit.
- Still milling about, fucking about with a puff a little bit.
- If I was just walk, just walk, just mill about.
Examples
-
As I left the building, classes were changing and the students were milling about in the halls.
Fiction book (1996) -
Formally dressed presenters and hosts mill about, laughing and talking.
Fiction book (1992) -
A hundred or so reporters mill about while they wait for the start of a press conference.
Fiction book (1993) -
"How can we relax with a hundred people milling about the house?"
Fiction book (1990) -
We see a wide view of the elaborate wedding; guests mill about the banquet hall.
Fiction book (1995) -
A Latin band cuts loose as beautiful people mill about against a beautiful Chicago skyline.
Fiction book (1991) -
In the living room, between twenty and thirty people were milling about, engaging in conversation.
Fiction book (1991) -
Suddenly, it was clear why so many law-enforcement officers and press were milling about in the outer aisles.
Fiction book (1990) -
Abruptly, the mourners disgorged from the church, but upon reaching the sidewalk, they milled about in confusion.
Fiction book (1995) -
At the party, guests milled about, chatting and laughing with each other.
Synonyms
407
2.0
To stay in a place without doing anything important
379
1.3
Move around without a fixed direction, often slowly and in curves
214
1.7
To go on foot in a place without a clear purpose, often for pleasure
189
2.5
Move around without a fixed place, often while looking for something
111
4.1
To spend time doing playful or unplanned activities
100
2.0
To move from place to place without a fixed home or plan
42
3.7
To move things or people from one place to another, often repeatedly
26
5.4
To stand or wait in a place without a clear reason
14
5.6
To move around in a group without a clear direction
11
7.7
To walk slowly in a relaxed way, often without a fixed destination
9
3.7
Move around slowly in a place without any clear purpose, often in a group
8
3.1
To move around a place on your feet without a clear purpose
8
7.6
To walk around without a clear plan, often slowly and without much energy
7
6.2
To spend time doing little or nothing instead of working
5
6.5
To spend time doing small, not important tasks slowly without a clear plan
4
6.9
To walk around without a clear purpose
3
5.9
To spend time somewhere doing nothing special
3
4.4
To stay in a place without a clear reason
2
9.5
To waste time instead of doing the work you need
1
6.5
To move around slowly doing small jobs in no hurry
1
9.9
Move around without a clear plan or purpose
To move around a place with no clear purpose
To walk slowly without a clear purpose
Walk around slowly without a plan
To travel slowly without a clear plan
To move slowly around a place without any clear purpose
How Aimless
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to move around aimlessly' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'mill' (to move about restlessly) with 'about' (around), so the overall sense follows straightforward compositional motion + location semantics. This pattern is cross-linguistically common and therefore a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb mill about may come from the old sight of people or animals walking in a circle around a mill, moving about the wheel with no clear aim. That's why today mill about means 'to move around with no clear purpose'.